


breathe your last breath

by petcheetah



Series: August Prompts 2019 [9]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canonical Character Death, Tony Angst, Tony Stark Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 15:50:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20176837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petcheetah/pseuds/petcheetah
Summary: it was finally his time.





	breathe your last breath

Tony had been preparing for this moment for years. Even when he was younger, when his mother and father were alive, he was preparing for the day he would die. It had never been something of a concern to him. It had always been a fact of life. The fact that one day he would die never did much to scare him. Even all those years ago he had many pages written within his will in preparation for the day, lines upon lines of specific things to do when he died. His body was to be donated to research, and it had been that way since he had gone to MIT and learnt of all the things that they could learn from those bodies. Rodey was to be given a large percentage of his inheritance, and that would remain a staple fact in his will for years to come. Eventually Pepper showed up on the paper too, and then the name Harley Keener, and along the line Peter Parker, and one day Morgan Stark was written there too. The pages of his will extended again and again. Sometimes the words lessened, as they did when Obediah betrayed him, but usually it was just Tony adding more and more people to his will that he knew could do something with his wealth that he never could.

Death was always a possibility when you were the head of a weapons company. He had never paid that much attention until Afghanistan. Even after he left that position to Pepper, he was aware of how easily it would be to kill him. That had been a key feature in his obsession with building the Iron Man suits. If he could do what he could to prevent his death, then he would be able to continue going on saving the world. Becoming an Avenger had led him to even more death, but by then he was around people who were more capable of helping him than anyone else could be. The Avengers became an outlet for a reckless man. Even when he was actively avoiding his own death, he wasn’t able to stop himself from rushing headfirst into danger. Loki, the poisoning of his own ark reactor. So many others.  _ Thanos. _

Thanos was the cause of so much death and devastation. When Tony got back to Earth, he looked at the writing in his will and didn’t hesitate in adding Peter Parker to the list, promising himself that one day he would get the kid back. It made him realise something.

He was prepared for his own death. He had his will written, he had a good person leading his family's company, there was forever going to be people out there to protect the world. But he could never be prepared for the death of people he cared about.

When they brought everyone back, they lost Nat. It felt like no matter what they did they were unable to prevent themselves from losing at least one person. He was unable to help himself from wondering if it was worth it, but seeing those portals open and seeing Peter again made him think that maybe it could be. Seeing the kid made him hope that maybe he could live long enough to make sure that Peter never had to see the people he loved vanish around him, not for a very long time. Seeing Peter made him hope for one of the first times in his life - the other times being marrying Pepper and the birth of his daughter - that he would actually be able to live for enough years into the future to see them grow into the amazing people he had no doubt they would be.

But it was impossible. It took all of five minutes for Tony to realise what needed to be done, and he apologised inwardly to the futures he would never be there to see.

The gauntlet was heavy on his hand, despite the nanotech not weighing a thing. The weight of the lives of so many rested in his hands. His own life rested in his hand. With a single click of his fingers, his constant fear of what could happen came true.

He saw the terror grow on Thanos’ face, and made his decision. His heart was heavy but he knew what had to be done.

He had begun his career as Iron Man with a light heart, knowing that there would always be a possibility of him dying but not caring so much, knowing that he would be able to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. It was the same thing now. There were futures that deserved to be lived, generations of children who would grow to be legends in their own right.

His heart wasn’t so heavy when he realised that he would be leaving behind a generation that could hold themselves up even after devastation. This would make them stronger.

He ended his career as Iron Man the same way he started.

“I… Am… Iron Man.”

And as he lay dying, the day finally arriving, Pepper told him that he could rest. It was all he needed. He could stop worrying. He was leaving behind a legacy that would last far longer than he would. The day had come, but he wasn’t scared anymore.

It was finally his turn to let go.


End file.
